Hidden Mist: State of Puppets
by Typingpenguin
Summary: A rogue Shinobi who uses his skills as a mercenary becomes involved in a hidden war between the Six Shinobi Council members of the Hidden Mist. Unaware that he will become entangled in a state of play in which the fate of his brother and his own depend on his actions and decisions decided by one corrupt council member, who plots against the very village he serves.
1. Chapter 1

(Disclaimer: Though Naruto and Hinata do not make an appearance in any of these chapters along with the Mizukage, they will be in the future. On another note this is not a romance story either. I apologize for any inconveniences.)

Chapter One

"Please speak to me before you kill me. Don't worry, I won't yell or do anything of that sort. I'm too old to do that sort of thing."

An old man dressed in luxurious robes spoke aloud to a hidden figure behind him. His eyes never shifted place, he just continued to watch the play from the balcony he sat on. Slowly from the shadows behind him a shadowy figure emerged, one who wore a mask that strongly resembled a skull, but one side of the mask was entirely black, and the other entirely white. The figure stood up, revealing he was wearing entirely tactical gear that strongly resembled hidden Mist ANBU gear and slowly began pacing toward the old man.

The old man's eyes remained fixated on the play, as it seemed it was reaching its climax. "Yes, I know you're there. Riku Iseya." Suddenly the figure stopped, frozen as if he was stunned with surprise.

"How do you know my name?" The figure spoke.

The old man grinned. "I knew your name since the day I was informed Sojuro hired an assassin to kill me. It wasn't hard finding out who the assassin was, as my contacts are deep within Sojuro's network by now."

Riku remained silent, his eyes watching this old man named Izo Okano to make sure he didn't do anything sudden.

Izo continued to speak. "Yes…I know all about you Riku. I know that you have tan skin, stand 5-9 to 5-10, are 28 years of age, that you have medium length black hair that you tie into a rough pony tail with amber colored eyes, and that you take care of your little brother Yuki. You have had quite the impressive record, but what surprised me the most is that you could have become one of the seven swordsmen of the mist."

Izo continued. "Do you have any idea what you've just gotten yourself involved in? Do yourself a favor young man, turn around and leave the mist before your strings get entangled in this ring you're about to step into, puppet."

Riku's left hand grasped the handle of his blade. "I just want my money."

Slowly, Riku unsheathed his blade. He then heard Izo sigh. "Figures, care to wait a moment? This is my favorite part of my most favorite play."

Izo continued on. "You see, this is where the boy named Shiro accepts his fate and becomes a man, and then his soul becomes free. See, it takes this far into the play to figure out that the boy has actually been dead all along, but he has just been unable to accept it until now."

Then, Izo felt the sharp end of a cold blade touch the back hairs of his neck. "So, do you accept your fate like the boy in the play?"

"Yes."

The blade was then pulled back, and was stabbed through Izo's back, into and out of his chest. A slight gasp was heard, but nothing else, the crowd applauding the finale of the play covered up any other sound. Riku put his foot up onto Izo's back, and pushed off of it, pulling his blade out. He then flung the blood off of his blade, which seemed like an ordinary katana with a black and white handle, and sheathed it.

Within moments after the killing Riku was gone without a trace.

Riku hid under the deck of a boat, removing his gear piece by piece. He had an odd feeling in his stomach…one that he couldn't just shake off. _How did Izo figure out my name? How did he know all of this about me? He even got my looks down to the finest detail, and the two of us had never met face to face before_. These were all just thoughts going through Riku's head as he removed his mask, revealing his face which matched Izo's description exactly.

His hands reached up into his thick black hair, and tied a rough pony tail, and then he beaded a strand of hair on the left side of his head. Just the way his mother taught him to…for a second his eyes dazed off into the distance thinking about her…

He snapped out of it. _I can't be thinking of her now, _he thought. He slipped on a new pair of clothes, black shinobi pants that covered his entire legs, a dark blue long sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and of course the toeless shinbo shoes. These clothes would be enough for him to blend in, and tactical enough for combat situations.

Piece by piece, he put the rest of his gear he had just worn into a black bag, and hauled it over his shoulder. He then put his sword sheathe on his back, then climbed the stairs onto the main deck, and walked over to the edge and dropped it into the water. He watched the bag sink into the dark blue abyss below…then his head lifted up to see the sun begin to rise. It was almost morning. By now Izo's corpse had surely been found, and the Mist Shinobi would be on alert.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ON MY BOAT!" A child's voice yelled from behind, it was so sudden it startled Riku.

Riku's eyes opened wide. _Wait…what…oh shit, wrong boat,_ he thought. His head turned to peak around his right shoulder. Standing behind him was a very fat child, with a broom in his hand. "W…what?" Riku asked.

"You're on my boat! You'd better go before I get my big brother!"

Riku's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Now I know why this boat is lopsided…" He murmered to himself.

"Hey I heard that!" the killed screamed, and began jumping up in down. "That was a fat joke, wasn't it? I'm NOT fat, I'm big boned!"

While the boy continued ranting on, Riku grew even more annoyed. Riku reached off deck, and into the water. His hand sat in the water for a second, before it jolted over to the right, grabbing something with his hand while it squirmed.

"YOU JUST WAIT, I'M GOING TO GET MY-" The boy was then interrupted by a fish getting slammed against his face. 'THUD!' the boy hit the deck of the boat, flopping around in pain just like the fish was. Riku honestly felt bad for the fish.

Riku then dropped off the edge of the boat, both feet landed on the water. He peered over his shoulder at the boy one last time, and then ran across the water onto the other side of the river, entering the forest on the shore.

Minutes passed, then half an hour, then one hour of jumping tree to tree through the forest before stopping suddenly at an old well.

"What took you so long?" A voice from inside the well asked.

Riku's eyes narrowed in annoyance again. "It was nothing."

"Whatever." The voice said, and a lady dressed in a full mist ANBU outfit, with a Haku like mask and long black hair jumped out of the well. She extended out her hand and dropped a small bag onto the ground in front of Riku's feet. "As discussed your payment. Master Sojuro is pleased."

He knelt down, and picked up the bag. Riku then turned around and began to walk away, he wasn't in the mood for conversation.

"Hey. I want to ask you something." She said behind him.

"What, Raven?" He asked.

Raven chuckled. "Tell me, how does it feel to have killed a defenseless old man who happened to be an important member of the Mist Shinobi council? You've put quite a gap in it, now there are only five members remaining…now Sojuro will have more power thanks to you."

"I'm not apart of these politics."

"Yes you are." Raven said. "You're an assassin hired by a council member, to kill another council member. That makes you apart of their politics."

Riku rolled his eyes, and walked away. He never did like Raven much, she was nothing more than an ANBU under Sojuro's payroll.

"Yuki, I'm home." Riku yelled into his small home, hidden in the woods of the Mist. He took off his shoes, and entered his house. It was a modest home, made of paper like most homes in the area…people just didn't know about this home.

There was a faint sound in the background…sounded like a blade being stabbed into wood. "Yuki?" He called out again. No answer. Riku felt the vein in his head pulse out, and his eyebrows turned down. _Why is he not replying…again,_ he thought. This wasn't the first time Yuki pulled this.

The sound of a blade hitting wood grew nearer and nearer as he wondered through the home. He slid open the back door, then slid it shut behind him after he walked through. Pacing a few more feet around the house, Riku finally found Yuki.

Yuki, who strongly reflected his older brother Riku's appearance with just a few different things, stood in front of a target carved into a tree. In Yuki's hand were Kunai and Shuriken.

Riku approached Yuki, waving to him. His facial expression remained the same. "What are you doing?"

Yuki glanced over at Riku, then back at the tree, his faced unturned by Riku's presence. He threw another Kunai into the tree, then put another Kunai into his hand.

"Yuki…"

Yuki glanced over again. "What?" He asked with an annoyed tone.

"What are you doing out here?"

"What does it look like, brother. I'm practicing."

Riku's eyes opened a bit with curiosity. "To be what?"

"A shinobi."

"Why do you want to be a shinobi?"

"Well I don't want to be stuck out here with you forever." Yuki then threw another Kunai into the tree, off target a bit, but it still made contact.

Riku's eyes traveled the surroundings for a bit, and he bit down on his lip. "Haven't I told you that being a shinobi is not what you want?"

"Yes, but it is what I want."

"Do you think that they'll let you become a shinobi after they learn that I'm your brother?"

Yuki's attention shifted back toward the tree, and he threw in another Kunai. "I'm not responsible for what you've done, and they won't hold me responsible."

Riku then shook his head, and ran his hand through the front of his bangs. Yuki had his mind set; there was no point of trying to talk him out of it. Yuki walked back to his original standing point and started throwing again.

"You're doing it wrong." Riku said. "You're putting too much back into it. Use your arm and wrist more." Then Riku walked back onto the porch of his home, and slid open the door.

He glanced back at Yuki one last time, before going back in. _How did things come to be like this between us…he's so cold to me now after everything I have done for him_, he thought to himself. _I can just see it in his eyes…he's as eager, and as hungry for power as I was back 11 years ago…_

Riku readied the tea he was about to make, placing the teapot on the stove, and waiting for it to warm up. Riku then thought back to that moment…11 years ago

A much younger Riku, roughly 17 years of age stood in the heavily forested area surrounding the Hidden Mist. He wore Mist Shinobi clothes, and gripped a kunai in his left hand. His eyes searched his surroundings…

_Where is he? Where is Zabuza…shit…I walked right into his trap,_ Riku thought to himself, his breathing increased and his eyes searched more frantically. "W…where is he…" He mumbled to himself, his eyes open in fear.

"Here." Zabuza said from behind him, blade up to the back of Riku's neck. "I win."

'_POOF_!' Riku then burst into smoke…it was a shadowclone!

"I don't think so." Riku said from behind Zabuza, with a kunai up to the back of his neck.

Zabuza's eyes narrowed as if annoyed, and in an instant he ducked his neck away from the blade, and rammed the back of his elbow into Riku's gut.

Riku certainly didn't see it coming. It landed perfectly into his gut, blasting the wind out of his body. The pain of…and being out of breathe…it brought him down his knees, and he even lost focus of where he was just for a second.

Then, Zabuza picked up his blade and swung a foreswing followed by a backswing straight toward Riku's throat. Riku ducked under the first swing, then rolled back out of the second swing. "What the hell, this is just sparing calm down!" Riku yelled.

Zabuza roared in anger. "I don't care!" then lunged his blade at Riku again. Riku leaned back, and parried with his kunai, before rolling out of the range of Zabuza's blade.

_Shit, he's really going all out here!_ Riku thought, before avoiding another one of Zabuza's slashes. He didn't wait for the next one, he hurled a kunai at his opponent then charged. Zabuza blocked the Kunai with his blade, and sweeped his sword at Riku's legs.

Riku noticed the silver shine of the blade, and he lifted his legs as high in the air as he could, arms flung out at the sides. He felt the wind of the blade pass under him, then he kicked out his right foot at Zabuza's face. He felt a satisfying blow make contact with Zabuza's face that made him stumble back a bit.

_'GRIP!' _Zabuza's hands wrapped around Riku's foot, and before he knew it Riku was hurled into the trunk of a tree. He heard a loud bang as he made contact with it, and pain arched up his as if he had been hit with a hammer. His breathe staggered, and he leaned up, hand held on his back.

Riku did a hand signs. "SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" and made two shadow clones, which all scattered through the woods.

Zabuza started doing his hand signs of his own. "You're not getting away!" He growled. "Water Style: Water Clone!" and Zabuza made three water clones of his own. They chased after the scattering Rikus.

While his shadow clones were on the run, the real Riku sat behind a tree. He sat perfectly still, not even moving his eyes. Zabuza would be able to detect the faintest movement…he knew this because both of them were students of the silent killing method.

'_POOF!'_ Riku heard one clone pop in the distance.

'_POOF!' _He heard the other one pop.

His eyes instinctively followed the sounds. His eyes opened in panic, he moved!

"Water Style: Water Prison!"

Before Riku knew it he was surrounded by water, trapped in a ball of water. He struggled to get out, his arms flailing and his legs kicking the walls trying to get free. His heart rate was so high he could feel the oxygen pouring out of his system every second, he wasn't calm enough to slow down his oxygen use.

Outside of the water prison Zabuza stood just glaring at him with his cold eyes. "I told you not to spar with me. I don't play nice."

Zabuza then sheathed his sword. Riku stared at him intently, every thought right now was of destroying Zabuza in any way possible…he just had to get out of this water prison before he drowned.

Then, an idea hit him. He would have to go to measures he didn't want to in order to free himself. This was no longer a sparing match this was a fight. Riku intended to win this fight. He put his hands together and started forming hand signs. Scorch_ Style: Searing Blast!_

Scorch Fire (A fire much much hotter than normal chakra fire) then blasted out of Riku's mouth in a continuous stream. The blaze was so hot the water around him evaporated before the blaze even made contact. Zabuza's eyes opened in surprise, and he drew his sword again and flipped out of the way.

Zabuza's eyes locked onto Riku "So, you actually want to do this huh? Looks like I have no choice now."

Riku, under the cover of a dense coat of steam due to his technique, reached onto his back, and pulled out his katana. It had a black blade as its key feature. He unwrapped the handle revealing a handle made of black and white wood. This was no ordinary sword, it was Riku's sword Akuma. "Now we fight for real."

The two didn't say anymore words, within seconds they advanced on each other. '_CLASH!' _Their two swords met in a dead lock. They stared each other down with anger in their eyes, both eager to harm and defeat the other. Zabuza pushed with all his might against Riku's blade, and Riku pushed against it as hard as he could.

Then, Riku thrusted his foot into Zabuza's leg to end the deadlock, Zabuza spinned out of the way of his foot, and spun his blade with him using the moment to strike Riku.

Riku ducked down, and stabbed toward Zabuza's thigh to slow him down. His opponent was agile enough to jump above the stab, and Zabuza's foot landed on the blunt side of the blade, and pushed it down to the ground. Zabuza's executioner's blade then raised above his head, and hurled down toward Riku's head.

_'CLASH!'_ Riku slipped a kunai out of his sleeve and blocked the blade. The two of them stuck in dead lock once again, this time Riku's grasp was breaking.

Zabuza growled "You're mine!"

"Go to hell!" Riku roared, before spinning out of the dead lock, and slipping his blade out from under Zabuza's feet.

He quickly got back into stance. Zabuza remained unrelenting, advancing on him once again.

Riku focused his chakra into his blade. _'SWOOSH' scorch_ fire covered Riku's Katana named Akuma. He then swiped as fast, and as hard as he could at Zabuza. His opponent knew that he couldn't parry or block this blade as of right now, and was forced to dodge.

'_SWIPE, SWIPE, SWIPE!' _Riku's swung his blade furiously, Akuma roared with scorch fire each swipes. Only once was the sword close enough to burn Zabuza, and because of the distance they were only in the first degree.

With this, Zabuza took a major leap back, going back at least 10 feet away from Riku. He did numerous hand signs. "Water Style: Water Dragon!" and from the ground in front of him a giant water dragon emerged, and few straight toward Riku.

Riku let out his battle cry, and the red scorch on Akuma glowed even brighter, and Riku leapt as high into the air as he could. He came face to face with the water dragon, and hurled his blade straight into its head. The sound of steam curdling was heard, and Riku slashed the technique right in half. The blaze on Akuma then went away, Riku didn't want to use anymore chakra, using Akuma like that always eats up chakra.

His eyes traveled up from the ground below him up to Zabuza, who stood there with his blade ready. The demon of the mist stood in front of him, yet Riku remained unmoved.

"Your move." Zabuza said.

"I've already made it."

'_BURST!' _Suddenly from under the ground below Zabuza two Shadow Clones of Riku bursted out, grappling Zabuza and trying to pin him down. Riku must have made them when he was under the cover of steam after escaping the water prison. After a few seconds of struggle Zabuza broke free, and after swinging his sword in a single motion he popped both clones.

Then, Riku was gone. Zabuza looked around in panic, only to feel a blade up to his neck. "I…win." Riku whispered in his ear.

"You forgot about my water clones." Zabuza said.

'_SPLOOSH!'_ Zabuza bursted into water.

An eye opening realization hit Riku, and he did his handsigns. "NOT THIS TIME!" He yelled, and surrounded himself in a ring of scorch fire

'_SPLOOSH!' _a water clone that tried to sneak up behind Riku bursted into water, and a cloud of steam was made. When the cloud of steam settled, Riku was gone as well.

Silence hit the field, both Shinobi were hidden under cover, both just waiting for the other to reveal their position.

Riku patiently waited under cover, as well as Zabuza. Then, the silence was interrupted.

"All right you two, you've been at it with each other long enough. Break it up!" An older voice said, and an elder man stepped out of the trees escorted by three Mist Jonin. "As far as I'm concerned you're both going to make the cut as part of the Seven Swordmen, so you can stop trying to kill each other."

And with that said, both Zabuza and Riku left cover. As they walked to the man from opposite sides of the woods, both rivals eyed each other down. Zabuza had a look of anger and annoyance in his eyes…Riku on the other hand had a different look. It was a look of anger, but it also was a look of hunger. As if he wanted more power so he could beat Zabuza, and all of his other rivals.

"Now, I can see it that both of you are very talented, and that both of you have a rivalry going on. Rivalries are good. Up to a certain point anyway. Your rivalry however is good no more."

The man then stomped his foot onto the ground. "This is the second time this has happened, and this will be the last. Both of you would make a hell of a team, it's time you started acting like comrades and not like children."

"Yes Master." Riku said. Zabuza softly said the same thing.

"Good, now I want you both to rest up for our mission tomorrow."

The teapot began to screech out steam, and Riku was brought back to current times once again. In current times he was no longer a Mist Shinobi, and there was no more Zabuza. Riku now a days was nothing more than a rogue, doing odds and ends just to put food on the table for his little brother, who didn't even appreciate him.

Riku slowly poured himself tea, and began to sip on it. Bitter, as usual. He was absolutely terrible at making tea. Still, it was the thought that counted, so he continued to sip down this bitter tea.


	2. Chapter 2

After a few more moments, Riku took one last sip of his tea. Then, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the bag Raven gave him. He opened it to find a note, and money.

Knowing already how much money was contained in the bag due to agreements prior to the deal, Riku read the note instead of counting the money.

_Riku,_

_Please meet me tonight at 12:00 A.M. exactly in our usual rendezvous point. I have a new job for you, one that will keep you busy for a while._

_-Sojuro_

After reading the note Riku folded it up and dropped it into his fireplace. His eyes glanced over at the clock…it was late enough that if he wanted to make it on time he would have to depart now. He slid open the door, and closed it behind him. "Yuki, I'm going now." He yelled, and as he suspected he was met with no reply.

With a sigh he was off, traveling through the forest once again. Tree after tree, Riku kept his mind focused only on the destination. It was strange, up in the trees where he was out of sight he felt like he belonged, just an odd sense of security he never had when he was on the ground. This was only momentarily; as soon as the breeze left his face he became apparent of the world around him once again.

Hours later he had finally reached his destination, an abandoned cove in the middle of nowhere. An abandoned harbor lay there, with old rusty ships and wrecks everywhere. This harbor was abandoned due to its isolation and cramped entryway into the ocean.

Riku walked across the water up to one of the few boats that floated and climbed in. Footsteps could be heard from under the steps, probably the guards getting ready for an intruder. '_KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK'_ Riku did the knock on the deck with his foot, and suddenly a hidden door on the deck opened. Raven's head slowly rose out of the door, and stared at Riku for a few good moments before sinking back down.

He then went down below deck, which was much more nice then the outside of the ship. Below deck was just one large room, and in the center of this large room sat an old man, with short grey hair and a rough beard wearing a black robe.

The old man spoke solemnly with a raspy voice. "Greetings Riku…"

Riku nodded. "….Sojuro."

"Please, take a seat. We have something that needs to be discussed."

With that being said, one of Sojuro's guards pulled out a chair for Riku. Riku thanked them properly, then sat down. While he sat he got a strange feeling in his stomach as if everyone in the room was watching him and his every move. He glared over his shoulder and saw Raven staring him down, then noticed all of the gurads staring at him as well.

"Well can we get on with this already?" Riku asked, feeling rather uncomfortable.

Sojuro closed his eyes. "Yes, yes, yes. Let's get down to business. First off, I thank you for your cooperation in the assassination of my fellow council member Izo. You handled it very professionally, and nobody saw you do him in."

Riku sat quite and attentively, letting Sojuro continue to speak.

"Secondly, I have a job for you. This job will take a while though."

"Well what is it?"

Sojuro got up, and stared at the wall for a second, as if thinking what to say.

"Councilmen Yamamoto. You know who he is right?"

"Yes. He sits in the third chair of the Hidden Mist council, just one away from you."

"Correct. And he has been a pain in my side ever since I stepped into my seat on council. Now I'm going to become a pain in his."

Sojuro then began to pace around the room, walking around the table mostly. "Yamamoto has learned through his contacts that a hit man has been hired to kill him. He has grown worried, scared, and anxious. He has begun hiring bodyguards of various skills and backgrounds, but mostly he just convinces the Mizukage to keep an ANBU by his side at all times."

"Well what does this have to do with me?" Riku asked.

"He is anxious, like I said before. I have taken advantage of this, I have spread the word through the Hidden Mist that you do bodyguard work, and are a perfectly capable one as well. His contacts, which are his eyes and ears of the Hidden Mist, are to have surely picked up on this by now. My guess is that you'll be contacted soon, I'd say at least a week."

Sojuro then put his hands down on the table, and stared Riku dead in the eyes. Sojuro moved his head in close enough to him that Riku actually moved his head back a bit. "You're going to do whatever he wants you to do when he contacts you, so long as it doesn't involve me in any sort of way. Understood?"

"May I ask why?" Riku said, his eyes searching the room from he uncomforting feeling.

"Don't worry why, just tell me if you are in or out. I will pay you in indirect ways every week for your services, I should say you'll be paid quite handsomely."

"Yah I'm in. I just have one question, how am I going to go around the village with my current status as a ninja?"

Sojuro slowly sat down in his seat. He then sighed, seemed to be almost a sigh of relief. "Don't worry. If you're working for Yamamoto he'll probably get your name cleared from the BINGO book. Now get out of here. You have work to do."

Riku then got out of his seat, and climbed out of the boat, onto the deck. His head searched around for any signs that he was followed. Having found none, he took off back into the forest.

Days passed, and Riku continued life as normal. This meant just laying low, passing through a few small villages to pick up some things, and just scouting the memories of his past. Most of them revolved around his days as a Hidden Mist Shinobi, serving with Zabuza. Strange, he never liked Zabuza yet most of his Shinobi memories revolved around their adventures. Figures, they were a two-man team after all. Up until Zabuza left the Mist of course.

Then, after his memories of his Shinobi days he would remember his darker days…after the Mist. He'd always just remember that one day…the day he met Orichimaru.

Riku looked up, and sipped his tea served freshly from the little inn he was resting in. Now wasn't the time to drift off into memory lane. He was expecting to be contacted today. There was no lead, no hint, and no sign. Just a feeling in his gut as if he knew today was the day.

After another sip of his tea, which tasted marvelous, he got up from the stool he sat on. "Thank you." He told the counter woman, and slid her the amount of money he owed to her on the counter. The woman didn't seem fixated on the money, she just continued to stare at Riku, which was something he took note of right away.

"Riku Iseya?" She asked.

Riku's eyes skimmed awkwardly. "Yes?"

The counter woman said no more, she simply slipped him a piece of paper and started wiping off the counter, acting as if nothing had happened. No questions were asked, Riku left the door right away.

_This is it. If this isn't Yamamoto then I should give up on trying to be contacted, _Riku thought anxiously.

He wandered into the forest, ran up a tree, and then checked his surroundings. Nothing, everything was cleared. Anxiously, he hastily opened the note.

_Riku,_

_You may not know me, but I have heard much about you and would like to speak to you about your certain skill set. I would rest easier at night knowing I had a man such as you under my employment. Please speak to me at my residence, the address listed on the back, tonight at 8:25 PM roughly._

Riku then read the address. "This is Yamamoto's residence…Looks like the wait is over." he murmured to himself. He folded up the note, and put it into his pocket. Once again his eyes scanned the horizon. Nothing that he could see or sense at the current moment, that gave him some reassurance.

Once again Riku made the journey to the hidden mist, using back-routes and the forest as cover. Hopefully it would be true that once Yamamoto employed him, his name would be cleared off the BINGO book so he wouldn't have to take these long side routes.

After hours of trekking through forest and roads, the destination was reached. He killed a few hours by resting under a bridge; after all jumping through the trees non-stop for hours was quite exhausting. Eventually it was time for him to visit Yamamoto's manor.

Riku traveled along rooftops evading patrols to reach the manor. He was there within minutes, and stood at the gate. This manor was well secured, complete with walls that the average person couldn't climb without a tool or chakra, plenty of lights, plenty of guards, and of course a few dogs to sniff out intruders.

"Um…I'm here to see the man who gave me this note." Riku called out.

Then two masked guards approached the gate. "May we see this note?" one of them said.

Riku reached into his pocket and pulled it out.

"Toss it in. Slowly." The other guard demanded.

"Alright." Riku said, and he gently tossed the note through the bars of the gate to the other side. One of the guards knelt down and picked it up, then examined it.

"Master Yamamoto has been expecting you Riku, please come in."

The gate then opened, and the two guards walked out and checked the area around the gate to look for anyone who may have followed Riku, while two more came to the gate to watch over it. "Clear over here!" the first one yelled.

"Clear over here as well!" The other yelled back.

The two guards then walked to both sides of Riku, while the others went back to their original posts. "This way please."

Riku nodded his head and followed. _Yamamoto must be extremely paranoid these days with security this tight. Can't say I blame him though, with every remaining council member wanting him dead or imprisoned._

Soon Riku was within the Manor, and surrounded by fine arts, fountains, and other luxurious commodities. Taken in by awe of his surroundings he couldn't help but stare at every wall, window, and even the very floor which he stood upon. The two guards led him into one room at the very top of the manor, which had an excellent view of the hidden mist when fog didn't block it. Riku's eyes still stared at his surroundings in awe, before his eyes locked onto a very large slightly overweight bald man, probably in his late 40's to 50's, wearing luxurious red silk robes sitting on a leather chair staring out the window. By his side lay a cane, made out of a mix of precious gems, metal, and a few fragments of polished bone. Probably of some animal…or maybe a man.

The man rose slowly out of his chair and leaned onto his cane. Then, slowly started walking toward Riku "I'm glad you seem so found of my home. Years have been spent collecting everything you have around you. You see that sword on the wall? That dates back to the start of this very village, it was not easy to find this piece."

Then he pointed at the note one of the guards was still holding. "I see you got my letter Riku, I never said my name on it. My name is Yamamoto, I assume you've heard of me?"

Riku nodded. "Yes, you're on the shinobi council."

Yamamoto grinned. "Please, step out onto my balcony and have some tea. I can assure you it is the finest in the land."

"Certainly, it would be an honor."

"Skilled an respectful?" Yamato asked. "We're going to get along well Riku, please follow me." He then began walking toward a door at the right end of the room, and waved Riku to follow him. Riku gladly followed him at a respectful distance, wanting to leave a good impression of course.

He was led onto a balcony that stretched around the entire manor, then right to the center of it one north side, which had a spectacular view of the village but was covered by thick fog. Yamamoto led him to a small table with two chairs and an umbrella, and pulled out a chair for Riku before sitting down in his own seat. Riku slowly took a seat, and within moments of taking a seat a servant calmly came out of the manor. The servant was dressed in a very nice traditional gown with a pot of tea and two clay cups. She set them down on the table and bowed. "Your tea Master Yamamoto."

Yamaoto set one cup in front of Riku, then one in front of himself. "Thank you. Please resume your day as usual."

The servant stood up straight, and calmly walked away. After she left all Riku could hear was the sound of Yamamoto pouring Riku his tea, then pouring himself tea. Then it was just silence. No birds chirped, and the wind was faint. Aside from these sounds Riku could just hear the sound of his heart nervously beating, but he kept on his poker face to show no anxiety.

Riku began sipping his tea delightfully; this was by far the best tea he had ever tasted.

"So you like my home Riku?" Yamamoto asked.

Riku grinned. "Yes, I have never been in a home as spectacular."

Yamamoto sipped his tea, then set it down. His eyes remained locked on his cup. "I find it quite Ironic how us Council members have such luxurious homes yet we play a hidden game that savages would play. All because we want more power in what happens in this village. This is the way it has been in the Mist. This is the way it will always be in the Mist. It's no secret that us council members have been plotting against each other, but the Mizukage won't act on it. Do you know why?"

"No. Not really." Riku replied.

Yamamoto raised one finger in the air. "Because if she were to act on it, the other hidden villages would find out and sense weakness."

After sipping his tea again, Yamamoto continued. "You see Riku, the hidden villages are like wild animals. When wild animals sense weakness in other wild animals they strike that wild animal down, so there is less competition. The Mizukage won't act because she doesn't want the Mist to be struck down like a wild animal. So, us council members will continue to be able to wage this hidden war uninterrupted unfortunately."

"You sound like you don't want part in it?"

"I don't. I hate politics." He took another sip. "I guess that's why I'm an honest politician."

Riku's eyebrow raised curiously. "Well why did you join the council?"

Yamamoto shrugged, and sipped his tea once again. "Necessity I guess. I knew this village needed honest politicians." Yamamoto's head then turned off the balcony, and he caught a glimpse of the Hidden Mist through the fog. "You know Riku, this village is changing; it's no longer the blood mist that you and I grew up in. So I figured that its politics should change with it. That's why I joined."

"I thought you said that the council would never change."

"Hmph. Well it was worth a try when I started. It has taken me years to figure out it wouldn't change." Yamato said bluntly.

The two of them then sat there for a good minute or so silently. All Riku could think of was about what could happen next. Every second Yamamoto didn't speak the anxiety in Riku's chest grew, and he began thinking. _What if this is just a set up? What if ANBU, or assassins ambush me right now? No…this man would never do that would he?_

Riku then put his hand over his eyes, and took a deep breath to give himself some reassurance. He then worked up the courage to ask "Why am I here?"

"I have a work offering for you."

"What kind of work?" Riku asked quickly, letting out a quite sigh of relief.

"I'll get to that. But first I need to explain to you my situation."

"Go on then."

Yamamoto looked out at the Mist beyond the balcony, then back at Riku. "As you already know the four remaining councilmen want me dead or worse. I fear for my life as is but I fear greater for the lives of my family members. I have one son, a pregnant daughter in law that I consider my own daughter, and one grandson. I stay awake at night terrified of what could happen to them."

Riku looked down at the table, and started thinking._ I know that feeling_,

"What I want you to do is to protect my grandson for a few weeks or so, with the way things have been escalating these past weeks I just know something is going to happen! My son is a merchant, always gone so he can't protect him. I have guards by them but none of them are skilled Shinobi like yourself. My one ANBU that has been assigned to me can only protect me because that's his orders."

"Please Riku, if you do this for me I will pay you very well."

"I just have one question, how am I going to be able to protect your grandson with my current status as a rogue shinobi?" Riku asked.

"I'll pull a few strings and get your name cleared. I have a few friends in the right places that owe may a favor."

"Alright. I'll do it." Riku said.

"Thank you." Yamamoto said, and he extended out his hand to Riku for a handshake. Riku gladly shook his hand.


	3. Chapter 3

So there it was. Riku was under the employment of Yamamoto, just as Sojuro had predicted. He found it odd how accurate the predictions were, nearly spot on. It was almost as if Yamamoto was a book that Sojuro had read three times over.

One day passed, and in the morning after Yamamoto began giving Riku a tour of his son's home.

"This is the kitchen…they don't ever use it though. Only servants cook in there." Yamamoto said, and then he began heaving himself up the stairs, one step at a time. The two of them then came upstairs, it was as nice as the rest of the home.

"Regular…well regular for me upstairs. This is where my granddaughter spends most of his time. I guess this will be where you also spend most of your time Riku."

"Where is your granddaughter anyway?"

"Kiri is probably in her room. She normally reads there or plays with her toys. Come, follow me, I'll introduce you to her."

Yamamoto then led Riku to a doorway, and slid it open. On the otherside lay a large room. In the center a little girl, with long black hair, pale skin, and large eyes sat drawing on a piece of paper. Her eyes traveled across the room and locked onto Riku right away. Nothing was spoke, she just stared.

"Kiri, this is Riku. He's going to be watching over you for a while." Yamamoto said.

Kiri's eyes traveled left, then right. "W…why?"

"Mm. He's just going to watch you when your mother can't."

_Great, now I'm babysitting?_ Riku thought to himself.

Riku's face remained unchanged, he was never really good around kids.

"But…" Kiri's eyes looked around awkwardly, as if she was being forced into this.

Yamamoto looked curiously. "What is it?"

Kiri began to whisper. "He…he's a boy."

Riku, being able to hear it perfectly fine due to his talents as a shinobi, slapped his palm against his face, and dragged it down slowly. _Are you serious…_he thought.

Yamamoto leaned down up to Kiri, and put his hand in her hair and rubbed it back and fourth. "Why does that matter? I'm a boy you know."

"Yeah but…he has his hair like a girls. Just look at that pony tail and those beads!"

Riku's eyes narrowed, and he could feel one of the veins in his head bulging.

"I happen to like my hair…"

Kiri ignored what he said, and continued to draw.

Yamamoto laughed. "Don't worry. You two will like each other soon enough."

"Yuki, I'm heading out!" Riku yelled out the door as he slipped his shoes on. It was a few days after Riku had met Kiri. These first few days had been quite…mostly a lot of sitting down and reading while watching her narrowly with the outside of his vision.

Yuki got up from his bedding and rubbed his eye. "Where are you even going?"

Riku put his first shoe on. "Work."

"What kind of work?"

He glared at Yuki for a second. "Body guarding."

"Who?"

"Do you really have to know this?"

Yuki turned around, giving Riku a cold glare behind his shoulder. "Whatever. You know where I'll be if you need me." He said. Slowly he approached the counter and grabbed his freshly sharpened Kunai and Shuriken then headed out back.

Riku slipped his second shoe on. "Try not to hurt yourself." He mumbled, then departed for the Mist.

An hour or so passed…he traveled quicker, more common routes that were easy to spot him on. It was strange for him, not having to hide anymore. He passed an entire squad of Shinobi and all they did was glare at him. Yamamoto actually did it from the looks of it, Riku had his name cleared from the Bingo book…

Being in plain sight for him nowadays made him feel almost naked, exposed to the world for someone else in the shadows to take him.

But there was no one lurking in the shadows, Riku made it safely to the Hidden Mist. He crossed a few streets and entered Kiri's parents manor.

"Riku! Hey!" Kiri's mother said upon entering. "I'm going to head to the market with Kiri, will you come with?"

_That was fast…_ he thought to himself. "I have to go with. I'm her body guard."

"Why don't we call it an escort? That sounds better!"

Riku's eye twitched. "Trust me when I say that does not sound better in any way."

"O-kay…" Kiri's mother said, not really listening. She then walked upstairs and brought Kiri down.

Kiri fidgeted at her mother's grasp. She obviously wasn't used to it. Her eyes immediately locked onto Riku, and just gazed at him. Strangely enough Riku hadn't figured out what this Gaze meant. This girl he was protecting was so quite and shy he had no idea what she thought.

"Morning Kiri." Riku said, trying to be nice.

Kiri just blinked at him. Her eyes went back to her mother who was awkwardly rocking her back and forth. She clearly didn't have much experience with her daughter.

"Alright, let's go!" Her mother said. They then departed for the market, which was a good 20 minutes or so.

"Awh the market!" Kiri's mother said. Her eyes traveled back to Riku, who had a grim look on his face. He hated being surrounded by so many people out in the open, where he just felt…exposed. "Come on, don't look so grumpy! This will be fun!"

Riku's eyes glared at his surroundings. "Yah. This is 'fun'." He muttered.

Kiri's mother, whom Riku never cared to get the name of, led him and Kiri across all various parts of the market. Riku continued to scan his surroundings, making note of everything around him. Mainly he took note of the faces of star venders to tell where their attention was. Other than that it was just the placement of objects…the little things that others wouldn't notice as easily.

Few things stuck out to him, the only thing that caught his attention was the cold glare of an old man sweeping out his stall. He shook off the glare quickly though, probably just some stubborn old timer.

"Kura, what a pleasure to see you here today!" One of the stall vendors said to Kiri's mother. _So Kura is her name…_Riku thought.

"Oh but the pleasure is mine!" Kura said. "Now, may I see your delicious merchandise?" She asked.

The vender smiled. "Sure thing." And he began sorting through things. "Tell me Kiri, is that your husband behind you?"

Riku's eyes immediately shifted with a look of concern to them.

Kura just simply laughed. "Oh heavens no. He is Kiri's escort!"

The vendor went silent, and Riku's eyes opened wide. A sweat drop ran down the side of his face.

After moments of an awkward silence the vendor went back to sorting goods. This was awkward enough as is, he probably didn't want to make it anymore so.

"I'll take a few loafs of bread and then some of those treats!" Kura said, ignorant to the situation.

The vendor didn't raise his head. "Right…well here you go." He said awkwardly, and he finished bagging the goods.

Kura set the amount owed on the counter and picked up the bag. She then turned around and began walking again, traveling to her next stall. Her eyes traveled back to Riku and Kiri. Kiri was awkwardly tugging at Rikus shirt, trying to get him to move. Riku on the other hand was awkwardly exchanging glances with the vender.

Kura turned back. "What is it with you, come on let's go!"

"You don't get out much…do you?" Riku asked.

"What?" Kura asked. "I go outside all the time, mostly tending my garden!"

Rikus dragged his hand over his eyes in frustration. "That's not what I meant…What I was trying to say is that you don't venture into the village much do you?"

Kura's mouth opened wide, along with her eyes. "Oh, that's what you were trying to say?" She then let out a snobby little giggle. "No, not really. I mean why would I? I was raised in manors my entire life, away from the village!"

"Then I have to explain something to you about the other meaning of the word escort…that is more commonly used."

"Well what does it mean?"

"Escort is another w…" Riku stopped out of awkwardness. He rethought his words for a second. "Escort is the 'polite' word for Prostitute."

There was a moment of silence. "Are you sure?"

"Yes…"

"Well then…uhhh…" Kura looked around. Now she felt awkward. "Sorry?"

Riku just shook his head. "Lets just go and get these last few stalls." He said.

All Kura did was nod, and lead the way. Riku reluctantly followed her lead. Kura's ignorance was becoming evermore present, and Riku's despising of her was also becoming present. Kura was a sheltered person, living a sheltered life, ignorant to her surroundings and situations. Then there was her daughter Kiri, who Riku felt sorry for. She would more than likely live the same life as her mother, in a mansion, never going out, never having to feel the pain of life. Then she would marry a rich man to keep her family going, and have another child who would go through the same process. It sickened him, and the more he thought about it the more he hated it.

Yet he couldn't shake this odd feeling…this feeling that made him feel responsible for Kiri. Riku walked next to Kiri closer, and the trio entered a less crowded section of the market, located at a dead end road. His eyes scanned the entire area immediately, and all he could see were red flags everywhere. For starters, there was a young man in the corner with an anxious look in his eyes, and he would stare at one of the woman sweeping out a stall and then at Riku, then Kiri.

Another red flag to Riku was the silence of the area, this was the market, which never should be silent. Slowly, Riku went ahead of Kiri and put his arm in front of her. His head turned back and stared at her in the eyes. "Get out of here. Now." He said.

_'CREEK!'_ From out a row of barrels behind them masked men popped out. The men wielded both smoke and gas bombs in the palms of their hands, and they quickly threw them at the trio.

"Shit!" Riku yelled, and he grabbed Kiri and covered her mouth and nose, then brought her in right up against him so he'd know exactly where she was. Kura on the other hand was caught by the shock of the ambush and was paralyzed with fright.

Riku's head turned to Kura. "Kura hold you're breathe!" he yelled out quickly, before taking in one last big breathe.

'_POOF!' _The smoke and gas bombs detonated. Riku held Kiri even tighter, and with his sight blocked he listened for any sounds. Right away his ears picked up movement. Three people, roughly 200 pounds each in weight, coming from the front, right, and left. Riku turned his back away from the three men. He could feel his heart begin to pound harder, and he relaxed himself to fix this.

_'TAP, TAP, TAP!' _Riku heard their footsteps growing closer.

_'SMACK!' _Riku delivered a crushing kick into the face of the first assailant coming to the left, he heard the man grunt the flop to the ground instantly.

Riku then bent over, distributing his weight and kicked ahead of him.

_'OOF!'_ He heard his swift kick make contact with his enemy's gut. Riku immediately delivered another kick. '_CRUSH' _he heard the sound of a broken nose, crushed.

After that Riku immediately traveled over to Kura, still holding his breathe. What seemed like minutes to Riku was actually only seconds in reality. With adrenaline surging through his veins, Riku lunged his right foot into the smoke, and felt the cracking of ribs.

A few moments passed and the smoke and gas cleared, only to reveal 3 dead bodies and 4 people surrounding Riku and the ones he was protecting, all wearing masks that mocked ANBU masks. In the center stood a very tall man, with fair skin and short brown hair.

"Boss." One of the men said, elbowing him to get his attention.

"What?"

"That man there, in the blue. That's Riku Iseya."

The 'boss' stared at Riku. "Ohhh…so I have the pleasure of meeting one of the Devil's Duo…well the one that's still alive anyway." He then stretched out his arms. "I'll cut you a deal. You walk away from these two and I'll let you live. Hell, I might even pay you."

_'DRAW!"_ Riku slowly drew out his blade, and gripped it with both hands. "I should be saying the same to you."

The assailant leader scoffed at Riku's statement. "Get them boys. Kill Riku, I want the other two alive though."

Kiri's eyes were open, paralyzed in fear. "R…Riku.." She whispered.

"Scorch Style: Scorch Clones!" Riku yelled, making the proper hand signs. Two clones then appeared, and they stood in protecting formation around Kiri and Kura. The clones may have cost a bit of chakra, but they were much more effective than shadow clones.

The real Riku stepped forward, and prepared himself for combat, stepping into his defensive sword stance.

_'CLASH!'_ Riku's sword blocked a kunai being thrown at him, then he dipped down and charged the four men. He raised his black katana, then swung it down at the first opponent. His enemy dodged it, and blasted a kick at Riku to counter, but Riku raised his sword and blocked it, and then used it to shove his enemy on the ground.

From behind him another assailant came at him, this one wielding a katana as well. Riku raised himself up, and hurled his blade at the swordsmen, putting weight into the swing to add more force. The swordsman raised his blade to block Riku's.

_'SHATTER!' _Riku's blade went straight through his enemy's steel, shattering it to pieces, then slicing into his foe's chest. The man screamed in pain, and Riku pulled his sword back then followed up by stabbing it straight through the man.

_'SWOOSH!'_ Riku heard Shuriken coming near him over the sounds of screaming; he gripped his blade tighter and advanced the body in front of him. Almost instantly the projectiles entered the body, and were halteed about halfway through. Riku slid his blade out of the lifeless corpse and examined his surroundings.

Behind him was the man who tried attacking him earlier, then on the rooftop above him were the other two.

The man in front of him began to make a series of handsigns. "Fire Style: Fireball Technique!" he then took a deep breathe in, and heaved his body forward, expelling a fireball from his chest.

Riku dived away from the fireball, and his two clones behind him grabbed Kiri and Kura and pushed them out of the way as well.

Then the real Riku quickly raised himself off the ground, and advanced, he let out a battle roar. Immediately a foreswing was swung, then a backswing. The man dodged the first swing but was caught off guard by the backswing and screamed in pain as Riku's cold steel entered his side. While his opponent squirmed in pain Riku focused his scorch chakra into the blade, severely scorching the weakling, all the blood in his veins dried out and desiccating the rest of his body.

Riku then gazed up at the roof at his next two opponents. One of them shook in fear, while their leader remained calm. "You!" The leader commanded his last remaining man. "Go and get him!"

The henchman trembled in fear. "Wha-what! You want me to fight him after he slaughtered the others?"

"Grrr…" The leader tightened his fist. "Get down there!"

"Like hell I am, I'm not dying today!" Then the henchmen fled the rooftops for his life.

The last remaining one, who seemed the most capable, stood there eying Riku through his white and blue mask. "You're strong Riku Iseya, but I'm afraid I'm stronger."

"Just who the hell are you guys?"

"None of your concern."

"May I at least know your name since you know mine?"

"Heh." The man said. "You can just call me…Hawk."

Hawk then raised his fist. "Enough talk now. Let's get to it shall we?"

Riku put his blade into his attack stance. "Let's."

_What the hell is up with most masked people I know being named after some bird? _He thought.

The two stared at each other for a good while, the silence of what would soon become a battlefield crawled up their backs.

Then, in a flash of a second they were off. Riku swung his steel through the air, Hawke lunged his fist at Riku.

Both of them clashed, and both caught each other's strikes, Riku blocking with his sword while Hawk pushed against his sword with his fist. The two of them were caught in a brutal deadlock, both of their eyes glaring at each other. Naturally Hawk was overpowering Riku with his physical strength. Riku quickly spun out of the deadlock and slashed toward Hawks feet.

Hawk jumped into the air and dived back and did handsigns. "Wind Style: Wind Cannon!" A stream of air then blasted out of Hawkes mask in an extremely high velocity.

_'SWOOSH!'_ Riku heaved all his weight to his front and flipped out of the way, landing on both of his feet safely away from the blast. The other enemies he had just fought were really no problem for him…this one on the other hand would be a different story.

The rest of the blast landed just shy of Kiri and Kura.

Hawk advanced onto Riku, Riku got into his defensive stance. With his strength, Hawk heaved his arm back for a strong blow, Riku saw an opening and quickly did a foreswing at Hawks side.

Hawk jumped above Riku's and did a death-spin, then hurled his foot out at Riku, striking his face. His oppenets foot seemed felt as heavy as a boulder, and Riku's body was flung to the ground. A shot of pain climbed up Riku's right cheek and Riku's hand clung onto his cheek trying to ease the pain, but it was to no avail. It felt as if his face had just been hit by a high speed cannonball...With this he came to the realization that if he's going to fight him up close he would have to put up more of a fight.

Riku slowly raised himself off of the ground, Hawk didn't wait for Riku to get up though. He hurled his foot into Riku's gut

_'URGH!' _The blow, and a numbing pain forced whatever air Riku had inside of him out flaired through his stomach, forcing Riku to drop his blade out of the pain. His hands went over his gut protectively. Hawke then closed in on Riku, and his hands grasped under his shoulders,

_'HEAVE!_' Hawk spun Riku around in the air and then hurled him into the wall. Riku's front right side made the most contact; the shock of the blow was quickly replaced with a static pain in his lower right side. He had probably broken a rib…

Riku's head turned toward his two clones protecting Kiri and Kura. He couldn't use his Jutus's effectively while trying to worry about their asses not taking any hits. "What are you waiting for? Get them the hell out of here!" He screamed. His two clones nodded, and took off into the market with Kiri and Kura.

"Now we fight!" Riku yelled, doing his hand signs. 'Scorch Style: Searing Blast!'. Scorching hot bright red flames then expelled out of Riku's mouth in a quick stream. Hawk heaved out of the way, and raised his fingers into a hand sign. "Shadow clone jutsu!" and 3 shadow clones were made.

The four hawks then all did handsigns, "Wind Style, Wind blade!" and they brought up their right or left arm as far back as they could, then heaved it forward. Their arms had such force and speed that they created a blade of wind that soared toward Riku.

"Scorch Style, Hell Ring!" Riku was instantly surrounded by 6 foot tall scorch flames that blocked the attack. The heat from the flames lit anything flammable within two feet on fire, and the building behind him caught most of the fire.

"Impressive. Too bad I'm all the way over here." Hawk said mockingly.

Riku held his hand sign and his eyes narrowed in focus. Suddenly the ring expanded, quickly moving out in all directions.

Hawk's head leaned back in surprise. "He can expand it?"

_'POOF, POOF, POOF!'_ all of Hawk's clones had burst from the ring of flames. The real Hawk jumped back approximately 6 feet to avoid the ring.

This was as far out as Riku could expand the ring, so he released his hand sign and the ring sank back into the ground. Riku didn't wait around for Hawk to make the move this time. Instead Riku made his advance, charging forward. He leaned his body down and picked up his blade in mid charge.

"Wind Style, Wind Blade!" Hawk hurled another wind blade at Riku. Riku, having to ignore all of the pain that surged around his body focused his chakra into his blade. His blade lit up with Scorch flames, and he swung his blade into the windblade, slicing straight through it.

"GRAHHH!" Riku yelled, and he hurled his weight into his blade and slashed at Hawk. Hawk knew that he couldn't block or touch this blade or he would be done for, he dived back away from it. While he was in mid air though, Hawk spun his body around and used the momentum of the spin to hurl a kunai at his enemy.

_'SWOOSH!'_ the kunai soared through the air. Riku's adversary threw a kunai of his own to parry the kunai. Then Hawk landed on his feet, and stood tall. He cracked his knuckles and rolled his head around, loosening it.

Hawk then motioned his hand for Riku to come at him. Riku was one step ahead of him already though, already advancing with blaze on his blade.

"Water Style: Pressure Blast!" Hawk raised his hands in front of him, and pointed all fingers at Riku. Then, pressurized water blasted out of his fingertips, combining into one large continuous stream of high powered water.

Riku dipped out of the way, but Hawk followed. He could hear the sound of the buildings behind him being torn apart by the blast. Leading his body away from the blast, Riku continued to dive, roll, and flip out of the way for a few moments. Then he flipped out of the way of the blast again. "Akuma: Scorch Release Technique!" Riku then swung his blade into the air and all of the scorch flames on the blade slid off and flew toward Hawk.

Hawk narrowly avoided the attack; having to jump out of the way he had received a severe third degree burn on his left calf. He grunted in pain, his hands traveled down over to it but didn't touch the wound knowing it would make it worse. Riku sensed Hawk's breathing increase from the pain.

Riku did the same technique again, this time Hawk was ready and jumped clear away from this one, Riku did it another two times, which his opponent remained clear of by maneuvering away.

Both noticed the sound of the two breathing heavily, and they glared at each other for a second as if they wanted to say something. Hawk stood tall and so did Riku.

Hawk took in one big breath, and let it out in a sigh. "You could have been one of the seven swordsmen of the mist? How? You're absolutely pathetic."

Riku wiped away a bit of blood that was coming out of his mouth. "You think you're any better?"

"Heh. I know I'm better than you. You may have served along Zabuza, but you are nothing like him. I don't even get why they called you two the Devil's Duo." Hawks arms went to his sides. "You know what? I bet he did all the damn work while you just sat around."

Annoyed, Riku ignored Hawk's smack talk. "Just what the hell do you want with Kiri and Kura?"

"I'm just following orders like you." Hawk said, his eyes quietly observed Riku. "You look exhausted…that sword technique of yours must take up a lot of chakra."

Riku remained silent. The technique did take up chakra, but what really used a lot of chakra was creating the flames on the blade, not maintaining them. So really the Scorch Release Technique that hurls the flames at his opponent really uses the most chakra. _I'd say I'm about half way down with my chakra level…I'd say he's maybe used up a quarter…I have to get conservative or my curse mark will activate._

"Well, I don't know what the hell we are waiting for! Let's just get on with this already!" Hawk yelled.

Riku raised his sword in front of him, and then advanced again toward Hawk.

The two Shinobi battled on, using various techniques and styles that they had at their disposal, for a second one would gain an advantage over the other but then the other would reverse it with some technique. With every dodge, counter, parry, or strike Riku grew more exhausted, and so did Hawk. This was indeed a worthy opponent, and he had revealed little weakness to Riku so far.

Once again Riku lifted himself back onto his feet, and so did Hawk. Now the fight had taken them onto the rooftops, the market below them, the clouds above them, and the sun was to their backs. Riku revealed a few new cuts and bruises, while Hawk had a few more burns and slashes on him.

_If I want to conserve what chakra I have left…I can't use my Scorching Sword technique anymore._

In a second Hawk was charging Riku again. "Wind Style: Fury!" Hawke then hurled his left fist at Riku, wind surrounded his arm and gave him a major speed and strength boost. Riku leaned out of the way of the blow. Hawk swung his right hand at Riku. Having predicted this move, Riku ducked out of the way. Then he dug his feet into the ground, and rammed his right shoulder into Hawks gut.

'_OOF!'_ Hawk felt the wind be crushed out of him by Riku's shoulder, and he leaned over Riku. Too close to use his sword effectively, Riku dug into his pocket and grabbed a kunai knife which he shoved into Hawks side.

"GAHHH!" Hawk yelled in pain upon feeling Riku's cold steel enter his side. He grabbed Riku on both sides and hurled him away. "God damnit you'll pay for that!" Hawk screamed. "Wind Bullet!" rapidly, roughly thirty or twenty compressed balls of wind shot out of Hawks mouth at Riku. A few of them made contact with Riku, but Riku maneuvered away from the rest, mainly jumping behind cover across the rooftop.

"GRAH!" Hawk let out his battle cry and advanced on Riku. This time he used his wind style to give him greater speed and acceleration in his legs. Riku was soon met with a viscious combo, first Hawk gave a quick punch with his right, followed by a swift kick with his right leg then with an elbow to finish it off.

Almost instinctively Riku dipped out of the way of his fist, then blocked Hawk's foot with the blunt side of his blade. The elbow he was unable to avoid or block however, and upon contact Riku entered a dazed state, the blow felt as if it knocked everything in his head out of place and he struggled just to stand straight.

Hawk used the moment to his advantage. "Wind Style: Fury!"

_'STRIKE, STRIKE, STRIKE!' _Three unforgiving punches were delivered into Riku's ribs. Each blow was more violent than the other. Riku's body quivered and jumped up after each blow, his ribs now burning in pain. There was no doubt that many of them were broken now.

_'KICK!' _Hawk delivered one last kid into Riku's gut that sent him flying onto another rooftop. Upon landing Riku could feel his ribs bend and creak, each one causing a severe amount of pain. He bent over from the pain, and coughed blood out of his mouth. The pain was so severe Riku was unable to move, and he curled up just shaking from pain.

Hawk let out heavy breaths, then regained his strength. "Time to find those girls." He said, and jumped off into the direction he last saw them. There was no doubt in Riku's mind he would find them.

Slowly, slowly, Riku lifted himself off of the ground. The bruises and cuts all over his body, primarily his face and torso became apparent to him.

'You're pathetic.' A voice in his head said, that replicated the sound of Zabuza.

'What do you think you'll accomplish just lying there?" Another voice said, this one sounded like Orochimaru.

Slowly Riku's right fist grasped his blade, and it tightened in anger. Even in battle the demons of his past haunted him, usually he could hear their voices in his head mocking him such as now.

Riku then thought for a moment…examining everything he could recollect from the battle.

_His movements are all extremely aggressive, he does a relentless assault…giving me no time to recover, and his variety of wind and water techniques can be used from various ranges…_

His thoughts went deeper, and he began thinking about every little detail of the fight. Then suddenly he was struck with an idea.

_That time…when I got him with my kunai knife…_

Riku's eyes opened wide.

_When he strikes that's when he's most venerable…he leaves himself wide open for counter attacks, he just does continuous attacks to cover it._

Now that Riku had a game plan, he stood tall. He leaned over, and his legs trembled in by one, he began to walk. That walk turned into a faster walk, then that faster walk turned into a jog, then it eventually turned into a full sprint. Each breath hurt Riku's insides, flaring up after each step, but he ignored it and continued moving.

Screams could be heard in the distance, his ears narrowed in on the sounds. More screams…this one sounded like…Kiri! Now he had a lock on Kiri's location, and more than likely where Hawk was. These screams were followed up by the sound of one of his scorch clones bursting into flames. That was the first one, if the second one fell it would be over.

Jumping from rooftop, to rooftop Riku made his quick advance toward the location. Within not even minutes he had arrived, and not a moment too soon. Right as he arrived the first thing he was greeted by was his second blaze clone popping from a barrage of air bullets. Riku was too exauhsted to hide effectively, and Hawk noticed him right away as Riku jumped off the roof and into the small market square they all stood in.

"RIKU-SAN!" Kiri yelled. Kura remained quite, just standing in fear.

"You just couldn't stay away could you?" Hawk murmured. "I guess I have to kill you now."

With that being said the two of them were off again, right in each other's face. Riku held his blade firmly next to him, everything slowed down for him.

"Wind Style: FURY!" Hawk yelled, and his two fist became covered in wind once again.

_Wait for it…. wait for the first strike to attack_

The first strike, with Hawke's left raced toward Riku's head. Riku ducked down, and his fingers gripped his blade tighter.

Hawke readied his left, preparing to launch it out at Riku

_NOW!_

Riku then lunged his blade into Hawks exposed side, right where the Kunai stabbed into. Hawk's flesh was paper compared to Riku's steel, and Riku had stabbed all completely through Hawke's left side.

Hawk let out a roar of pain and anger, and Riku didn't wait around to see what happened next. He pulled his blade out of Hawks side, then launched a barrage of slashes at Hawk.

_'SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH!' _Hawke was unable to completely block any of Riku's strikes. Riku's adversary was able to partially block the slashes by raising his arms to block them, but his arms were very badly cut and gashed as a result. Blood poured out from his arms, and gashes and cuts were visible across his entire body.

"AHHHH!" Hawk screamed in pain, holding his hands over their opposite arms to try and stop the bleeding.

Riku didn't hesitate, he intended to finish Hawk here and now "Scorch Style: Searing Blast!" Riku then heaved with all of his might his searing blast technique. Hawk had to dive with all of his might to avoid it, which he narrowly did, with severe 3rd degree burns crawling up the majority of his right side. On some parts they were even as bad as 4th degree.

"You're not killing me, not today!" Hawk screamed, and he ran over and grabbed Kiri by her hair and dragged her close to him. He duh into his pouch and grabbed a kunai and put it up to Kiri's neck.

"Make anymore movement and I'll slit her throat!"

Silentely, Riku stood there. Blood dripped out of his mouth, but he didn't bother to wipe it off.

Hawks desperation was becoming ever more apparent as his eyes scanned all of his surroundings through his mask.

Riku slowly grew a grin. "Are you scared yet?"

Hawk didn't say anything. He just raised his free hand and made a hand sign. "Wind Bullet!" and Hawk blasted a rapid barrage of wind bullets at Riku; he fully intended to kill him with this move.

"Scorch Style, Wall of flames!" and in front of Riku and 5 foot wide and 7 foot tall wall of flames rose out of the ground. All of the wind bullets were blocked.

With little reserves of Chakra remaining, Riku lowered the wall and it faded away.

Hawk made more handsigns. "You shouldn't have lowered that wall!" He screamed. "Water Style: Water Dragon!" then from out of the ground a small bit of water emerged, followed by a very large water dragon coming out of the ground. Hawk then used wind to rapidly accelerate the dragon, going full speed Riku was unable to avoid it.

_'POOF!'_ A shadow clone bursted!

"Wha…a shadow clone…" Hawkes voice said with a surprised tone. He was so shocked that his grip on the kunai loosened. Kiri felt this and pushed the kunai away and began to run.

Back when Riku was hidden behind the flame wall, he used it to his advantage and used his remaining chakra to create one last shadow clone… then he slipped off into the shadows.

"Shit, no!" Hawk yelled, and he extended out his arm to grab Kiri by the back of her hair again.

_'SLASH!'_ Riku emerged from the shadows and slashed his blade deep into Hawks extended arm. Hawk let out a scream, but before he could react in any way Riku pulled out the blade, and used all of his remaining strength to spin around 360 degrees, then going with the moment he heaved his blade back and stabbed it straight through Hawks chest, letting out a roar of anger.

"Gah!" Hawk let out one final gasp, before he collapsed to his knees. His hands went around the blade and he faintly tried to pull it out, but collapsed to his side.

"…You should have killed me when you had the chance." Riku whispered, then he twisted the blade inside of Hawk.

"Who hired you?" he whispered.

Hawk let out a faint breath "Ryoko Yamakawa…"

"The council member?"

All Hawk did was nod, before he completely collapsed to his back.

Riku finally pulled his blade out of Hawk, and flung the blood off of his blade.

"Riku San!" Kiri yelled, and she hugged Riku's leg as tightly as she could, tears beginning to form in her eyes. She had probably never been this frightened before in her life.

Meanwhile Kura just stood there, still in shock She too had probably never been this afraid in her life.

Riku stared at Hawk's corpse.

"Over here!" he heard a male voice say, and his eyes traveled over. Running down the street toward them were a mixture of Yamamoto's guards and Mist Shinobi. Riku didn't say a thing he just stared.

The man approached Riku fist, while the rest of them secured Yamamoto's heirs. The man looked at Riku with a startled look. "W..WE NEED A MEDIC OVER HERE NOW!" He called out.

Slowly, Riku began to loose all feeling in his head and body. The numbness had a slight tingling to it, slowly he grew dizzier until finally his legs gave out and he collapsed. Slowly, everything went dark for him and he lost consciousness.


End file.
